“They are going to cause a lot of trouble for other teams this year if they keep going like that,” said Jones after watching the pair take apart Canberra Raiders 25-14 and Manly Sea Eagles 24-5.

Tomkins’ first touch was something any Super League fan is used to seeing – the 24-year-old arrived at dummy half, and in one smooth motion, bent down, picked up the ball, sprinted off, drew a man, and offloaded to send a team-mate crashing over.

“He’s done exactly what I thought he was going to do,” said Johnson, whose last-gasp try broke English hearts in the World Cup semi final.

“He’s not the biggest player, but he’s got a big heart. Every time he runs that ball he runs it like he’s a prop, throws himself into the line.”

“I thought I would be nervous but I was OK, probably because it is nines,” said Tomkins.

“When round one [of the NRL] comes around I probably will be.”

Tomkins’ Warriors were heavy favourites for the title and the million-dollar first prize when they flew through the early rounds with relative ease, the Englishman and Johnson scoring and setting up the majority of their scores.

However, in the semi-final their foot slipped off the pedal and they were taken apart by North Queensland Cowboys, who they had seen off in game 21. The 8-0 loss saw them crash out of the competition. The Cowboys capitalised and went on to defeat Brisbane Broncos in the final 16-7.